Brownwood is dying.  Vacant buildings everywhere, vacant houses everywhere.  The sales taxes do not increase, but go up some – but rise is only inflation, if that.  Our athletes in school now play Llano, Lampasas, etc.

Our local political leaders should adopt a Move Brownwood Forward Plan.

1. The first item is water.  Governor Perry proposes to make 40 billion available for water to use.  The cities of Abilene and San Angelo are in the hunt for some of this money.  We should be too.

There is a location up the Bayou to build a reservoir.  Our Water District started to work to build the dam, in the 1960’s, then we lost our political support and the plan disappeared.  Abilene officials have pitched their hats in the ring.

We should do so.  New dam, drilling water wells, pipelines and purification plants are acceptable projects.  We must have a plan for our State Senator Frazier of Marble Falls and House member Jim Keffer of Eastland to advance for us.

2.  TOURISM

Brownwood has a western history second to none.  The sale tax collected by our motels should be used to create and advance this program.  The money is now being used to build soccer fields, swimming pools and the like, a use not originally authorized.

a. Greenleaf Fisk has a life history second to none.  He was an acting hand for Sam Houston and big in the formation of Texas.  Buy his house, turn this area into a visitors center.  Buy the stagecoach station building in Early, built in 1850-1851.

b. Reconstruct the Wild Bill Anderson cabin near the airport.  Anderson deserted Cantrell in 1863, moved to Brown County, died in Brown County, buried in Staley Cemetery.  Jesse and Frank James spent most of two years in Brown County at Anderson’s place, bought goods from Brownwood and lived near Sterling City with the Comanche’s, 1871-1872

c. Mark off original sixty acre town-site laid out by surveyor Fisk.  Locate stores and county courthouse with plackers, plaques to instruct.

First settlement after the stagecoach stop saloons, bawdy house and merchantile store built at the junction of Salt Creek and the Bayou, now part of the airport.  This site contained the village of a Delaware Chief.  They moved back east when the Comanche – U.S. Army War (1851-1877) begin.

A partner with my great granddad they built his place in 1854 to service Camp Colorado soldiers.  He asked my kin to partner with him but my great grandmother said “no way”.    The army moved nine from “boothill” to Greenleaf Cemetery in 1940, but left a few.  Buy and reconstruct Army camp Colorado and its cemetery located on Jim Ned Creek.

Thirteen soldiers served here to later become generals in Civil War.  Capt. Robert E. Lee was one.  The Seventh Calvary unit was stationed here from 1854-1861.  Part of unit, Albert Sidney Jackson, commander, moved part of this unit to Salt Lake City area to stop Mormons from killing settlers. (martial law).

John Wesley Hardin, acting in self defense, killed a carpet bagger in Brown County Sheriff named Webb who was appointed by a Yankee General.  Webb arrested two of Hardin’s drovers at Williams Ranch, put them in our log cabin courthouse (rebuild this structure.)  Hardin was taking 1500 head of Longhorns to Abilene, Kansas.  He needed the drovers.  He stuck up Webb, released his drovers.  Two of my ancestors also worked as drovers for Hardin.

Build a frontier Brownwood in Riverside Park.  Clean up lake, build wharf, place small Mississippi River type steamboat on lake and cruise between upper dam and lower dam.

Organize bus speaking tours to visit sites and hear stories.  Build Delaware Tee Pee village outside frontier Brownwood.

3. The Third part of MOVE BROWNWOOD FORWARD is more difficult and more rewarding.  Our airport is a valuable underused asset.  Build an industrial park at the airport to make use of in and out factory supervisioners.  Extend a taxi-way across a factory subdivision with 12 locations.  Bait the trap with cheap electricity.

Organize and build an electrical REA we would own to create and supply cheap electricity.  Borrow 40 year bonds at 2% and construct a wind farm-solar farm with sufficient capacity to create at least a 20 year area supply production.  Pay bonds with monthly purchase of electricity.

Send representatives to California using the taxiway – cheap electricity to lure 12 factories to Brownwood. Also aid 3M, Kroger, Cable, Phillips Pipe etc. with electrical cost. Our Brownwood must not depend on our bad electric grid.  This defends our area from the coming Chinese attack to knock out our national electrical grid bringing us to our knees.

Brownwood would double in size to 40,000.  Our bankers and business men must take the leadership.

Move Brownwood forward with water, Tourism, Electricity, and Industrial Parks.  Organize committees to lead the charge. Now.

NOTE:  There is a 4th one but that is enough for now.

Respectfully,

Colonel George Day, JAG retired
Brownwood, TX 76801